Ripples of Unseen Light

After School — The Walk Home

When the final bell rang, Aihana and Miyu stepped through the school gates—

—and froze.

Chaos.

Students shouting, running, crying, laughing, falling over themselves.

Aihana exhaled heavily.

“Again…?”

She moved through the crowd with calm precision, Miyu trailing behind her like a loyal shadow.

Akihiro noticed them slip away.

With a small, barely noticeable tilt of his head, he signaled to Rei and Ayame.

Follow.

Aihana and Miyu walked toward their neighborhood. The evening light cast long shadows across the pavement. Their steps were quiet, steady, peaceful—

Until three familiar silhouettes emerged behind them.

Rei raised a hand.

“Wait! Let’s walk together! We should get to know each other!”

Miyu lit up immediately.

“Oh, that sounds fun!”

Aihana stopped, turned—her expression unreadable.

Miyu whispered with a grin, “They’re totally following us.”

Aihana sighed.

Rei stepped forward first, warm and confident.

“We haven’t been properly introduced.”

Miyu extended her hand. “I’m Miyu!”

“Rei,” he said, shaking it with a charming smile.

His gaze slid to Aihana.

“And you?”

Aihana hesitated, then extended her hand politely.

“…Aihana.”

Rei’s smile deepened. “It’s a pleasure.”

Ayame and Akihiro approached.

And Aihana’s faint smile disappeared instantly.

Miyu blinked.

“Aihana…? Are you okay?”

Aihana nodded stiffly. “I’m fine.”

Rei began chatting with Miyu, their conversation light and easy.

Akihiro stepped a bit closer to Aihana.

“…May I walk here?”

Aihana didn’t look at him.

“If you must.”

Miyu stared at her friend, confused.

Why is she acting so strange…?

Akihiro noted the tension in her voice, the tightened grip of her hand around her bag, the way her steps subtly changed.

Ayame drifted to Akihiro’s side.

“I can keep you company,” she said lightly. “Since Aihana isn’t… very social.”

Aihana stopped walking. Her voice was quiet—but sharp.

“You’re right. I’m not social. And I didn’t ask any of you to join us.”

She turned slightly, her posture defensive but controlled.

“Miyu is enough company for me. And you don’t know me. I don’t want to know arrogant, self-important Academy students.”

Miyu gasped softly. “Aihana…”

Ayame stiffened. Akihiro, however, stepped forward—calm, unwavering.

“You are correct. We don’t know you.” He met her cold gaze steadily. “And you don’t know us. But I’ve been in situations like this many times before—I know how to navigate them without forcing anyone. You don’t have to speak or smile if you don’t wish to.”

He tilted his head slightly, his tone even but not without warmth.

“We are simply here. Not to intrude, but to walk beside you for a moment. That is all.”

Miyu moved closer to Aihana, her voice soft.

“What’s wrong…?”

Aihana closed her eyes, her breath trembling as a faint tension ran through her shoulders. For a moment, she felt the urge to snap, to push them away entirely. But she steadied herself, forcing a calmness over her features, her voice barely a whisper.

“I… I’m fine. Just… give me a moment.”

Her hands clenched subtly at her sides, hidden from their view. Inside, her thoughts swirled—confusion, unease, and that strange pull she couldn’t yet name. The weight of the day, the strange energy around Akihiro, and the unbidden attention all mingled into a quiet storm within her.

She opened her eyes slowly, meeting Akihiro’s gaze for a fraction of a second before looking away.

“Let’s… just walk,” she said, her tone measured, controlled—but beneath it, her racing heart betrayed the turmoil she refused to show.

A gentle evening breeze stirred the street, brushing lightly against her hair and the edges of her coat. The wind didn’t just touch Aihana—it seemed to ripple subtly toward Akihiro as well, stirring the air between them. A faint, almost imperceptible charge seemed to hum through the space, enough to make the world pause for a heartbeat. Neither Akihiro nor the others noticed it, yet the city itself felt, for a fleeting moment, as if it were leaning closer, aware of something unseen.

Akihiro motioned for his team to give her space.

Miyu stayed with Aihana all the way to her doorstep.

“See you tomorrow,” Miyu said gently.

“…Yes. Tomorrow.”

Aihana’s Room — The Unquiet Silence

Her room welcomed her with soft quiet. Sketches lined the walls—angels, demons, and ethereal figures, each a fragment of her inner world.

A half-finished drawing lay on the desk—a solitary angel with no face. She sat slowly, fingers brushing the blank space where the eyes should be.

Trembling slightly, she picked up her pencil. She began drawing the eyes. Soft strokes, careful curves, tentative lines that mirrored her own heartbeat.

Then suddenly—the eyes on the page stared back. Too real. Too sharp. Too alive.

Aihana’s breath hitched. A warm pulse spread through her chest.

No. No no no—

She flinched, tossing the sketch aside, fists clenched. “I won’t be like the other girls,” she whispered, almost to herself.

Yet the warmth in her chest—unfamiliar, terrifying—refused to fade.

Her thoughts churned, swirling with unease and a strange, irresistible pull: the day’s events, the new students, the unexplained energy surrounding Akihiro… and that spark from the alley that night. Something about him, about them, unsettled her—and yet drew her in.

Carefully, almost hesitantly, she returned to the sketch, her pencil hovering above the blank face. “But those eyes… something about them… what is happening to me?”

The Team’s House

Akihiro, Rei, and Ayame arrived at the small house the A-Academy had arranged.

Just a few houses from Aihana and Miyu.

Rei dropped his bag instantly, letting it hit the floor with a thud.

“Well! That was an interesting first day among humans.”

Ayame folded her arms, smirking.

“Do you think they’re always that chaotic?”

Akihiro stood near the window, silent.

But his thoughts were burning.

Her energy…

Her reaction…

Her eyes…

He couldn’t shake it.

Finally, he turned to Rei.

“Rei. Go observe Aihana. Not too close. Don’t let her notice.”

Rei’s expression sharpened with excitement.

“Understood.”

Then Akihiro faced Ayame.

“Ayame. Watch Miyu. Carefully. Note anything unusual.”

Ayame nodded, her gaze flickering toward the girls’ street.

When both left, Akihiro remained alone in the quiet house.

His heartbeat was steady—

yet beneath it, something trembled.

“The Fifth Guardian must be found,” he murmured.

His eyes drifted to Aihana’s house, just barely visible between rooftops.

“If we fail… the world will fall.”

His jaw tightened.

But even as he firmed his resolve—

that strange warmth returned again.

The warmth he felt only when he looked at her.